All Tomorrow's Parties
by Ahnalisa
Summary: AU. Sora and Roxas Inaya seem to live normal lives. They each have their share of teen problems and their own friends and thier own lives. Or so everyone thinks. Junior year is starting and the drama is heating up as thier secrets begin to unravel.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, so here's my first completely AU that I've ever written. It might seem kind of confusing at first, but it should hopefully clear itself up in the end. The title was stolen form a Velvet Underground song called "All Tomorrow's Parties".

I'd also like to note that most of the pairings in the first couple chapters are going to be very, very, mixed up. I'm trying to make it as realistic as possible in some aspects.

**_Chapter One: 45th Avenue_**

(Sora's POV)

Okay, I'd like to let you know that this is real. This isn't some sapped up Californian teen soap opera that seems to be ruling the TV along with those damn reality shows. Where I'm from, there are a lot of people who try to make a fantasy world for themselves where the girl always gets the guy she wants, but a crapload of drama ensues later, screwing up everyone's lives.

Okay, so maybe that happens in real life too, but I digress. The point is that you need to forget everything _The O.C._ taught you and open your eyes to reality. Not everyone's relationship is drama, sex, drama, and more sex.

Again, I'm digressing. Summer is nearly over so I'm in a "I'm super negative today" mood.

My brother, Roxas, is already in the southwest part of town, where he recently got a job at a coffee shop there called Lucy's. He's been working a lot this summer; I've been too. Right now, I'm working at a friend's resale shop called Lady Luck. It's a vintage clothing/resale store in southwest Portland, a few blocks away from where Roxas works.

Why would two, perfectly healthy twin 15 year olds spent their entire summer working their butts off, while all their friends are having fun?

Firstly, it's not like we don't have fun. We've done some partying and hanging out with whoever's in town. Secondly, work equals money; money equals the ability to get something nice for once. Thirdly, it's not like Dad would want to drive us anywhere, pay for us, or actually bother doing anything for us.

Now, where was I? Oh, yes, my friend, Yuna got me a job at Lady Luck. There's nothing real special about it, except for the people you see come and go. Besides that, it's just like any other store on 45th Avenue.

"Hey, Sora," I heard Yuna greet from somewhere at the back for the shop. I could hear music playing softly as I joined Yuna in clearing out the dressing rooms of clothes people left behind simply because they didn't fit.

"So what's up?" I asked as the last 80's rock concert T-shirt was hung up.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Almost no one's been here since that mid-morning rush that you 'conveniently' missed," she said, giving me the 'look'.

I threw up my hands in defense. "Sorry my shift doesn't start until noon on Saturdays."

"I'm sorry you're lazy," she replied.

Touché.

"Don't make me say it, Sora; Yuna: 1, Sora: _nada_," I heard someone say at the shop entrance.

"Well, well, well. Mr. Kumonari," I replied in a cool voice, like Agent Smith in _The Matix_.

"Mr. Inaya," he replied in the same tone.

There was a moment of silence as I stared my opponent down. Yuna sighed and saying something about boys, walked off.

Silence.

Blink.

"You blinked!" I said, ending the staring contest.

My best friend, Riku, shook his head sadly. "And I still wonder how you've made it past the age of ten," he said, patting me on the head like a dog.

"Hey!" I objected, swatting his hands away. "When did you get back from the beach?"

"Last night," he said. "You should've been there, man. I got fifty-three phone numbers and thirty-six emails and IMs exactly."

"Tsk, tsk, Riku, you're starting to slack," Yuna joked from behind the counter.

Riku, I should say, has been my best friend since second grade. In the simplest words, and the most convenient definition, Riku Kumonari is a player. He's not an ass or vain or anything, he just has the ability to attract multitudes of females, heck even some men, too, on occasion. I guess if I were a girl, I'd think he's attractive. Silver hair that can go _whish_ and bright turquoise eyes are apparently lady killer traits. But I'm not gay. I'm perfectly interested in a certain blonde girl right now if your not convinced.

My looks aren't too bad, though, if I do say so myself. I'm in shape, but not completely ripped like Wakka or Riku. I'm "sculpted" as Selphie once called me. My eyes are a nice bright blue and I have cool hair that's completely uncontrollable.

I'm capable of scoring chicks. It's just with Riku around, you kind of get bumped into the shadows, you know?

I like cake.

Right, anyways, I don't need to be looking for a girl. I already have my eyes set on Namine Asya, possibly one of the most beautiful girls my age that is a real person, and not off TV. Everything about her, the way she talks, laughs, walks. I love it when she walks… She doesn't need to try really, but she's like some bright, glowy light, and I'm a fly who wants to touch the pretty light.

But she's way out of my league. If this were _The Outsiders_, she'd be a Soc, and I'd be a greaser. We're from two completely different worlds.

'_How romantic'_ my ass.

Later, after my shift was over, Riku and I walked along the Waterfront. We briefly ran into Pence, Roxas's friend. Shortly after, we actually did run into my brother and his really good friend, Hayner.

"L'chiem!" Roxas shouted good-naturedly to us. Seeing Riku he mock scowled. "Damnit Riku, you're back already? You're gonna steal all my girls!"

"Pardon me for being more mature, hot, and sexy than you, Blondie," Riku teased back.

"Twelve o'clock dibs," Hayner suddenly said, pointing to a real pretty ebony haired girl walking by.

"Then I call three o'clock," Roxas replied, eyeing a blonde.

"Psh, what losers," someone said none too quietly as they walked by.

"Wanna say that to my face, Seifer?" Hayner challenged.

"Okay," he said and went right into Hayner's face, "What losers."

I guess I should make some things clear before I continue.

One, obviously Hayner and Seifer don't get along. Roxas doesn't like Seifer either. But as far as I can remember, Hayner and Seifer go way back to the third grade. They were the best of friends, then some feud erupted between them and they've hated each other since. Roxas got dragged in because he pissed Seifer off in freshman year, that's how he and Hayner became friends.

The animosity between Seifer's gang and Hayner's gang is like Capulet and Montague's vendetta in _Romeo and Juliet_.

….

What? A dude can't relate something to Shakespeare? Well, you can go to hell if I can't. I read in eighth grade, just so you know.

The point is that Seifer's gang of Rai, Fuu, and Vivi, and of course Seifer himself, have gotten into many fights with Hayner's gang(Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Roxas). One time, Roxas actually got his head smashed in a locker door during a brawl in the hallway at school. It was pretty bad. Lots of blood. I don't particularly like blood.

I hoped there wouldn't be a brawl today, especially on the Waterfront. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied a police officer. If fists broke out now, we'd get into so much trouble.

Not like I'm a goody-goody two shoes kind of person, but my troublemaking doesn't extend to fistfights in front of a cop.

"Piss off, Seifer," Roxas said, quietly, but threatenly. He had that ability to be quite intimidating without much force.

"Even if you did want to fight, Seifer, there's a cop right over there," said Riku nodding his head over where the policeman was. "So I'd say you follow Roxas's advice."

Seifer glanced at the cop, and turned back to us. With a smirk he said, "I'll be seeing you boys in school then."

Seifer wasn't stupid; he knew when it was safe to pick a fight and when it wasn't. He'd finish his 'business' some other time.

As the sun began to set, Roxas and I said our farewells to Riku and Hayner and began to walk home. While we walked, we talked about all sorts of thing. We're close like that. He knows all my secrets, and I know all of his. We're each other's supports. Dad isn't any help; in fact, he's the reason we even need "supports".

You see, my dad met my mom at one of those AA meetings. They became friends, hung out, and eventually started dating. It helped with their alcohol problems and sped up the recovery. Eventually they got married and had two twin boys: me and Roxas.

When I was in the fifth grade, Mom got killed in a car accident. I have a scar on my leg from where a scrap of car metal was stabbed. Fortunately Roxas hardly remembers the crash due to a head injury.

It was horrible. We were just simply driving on the highway then it happened. Blood, shattered glass, torn metal, people screaming, and the ambulance sirens, then the sterile white of the hospital and Dad waiting anxiously by my bed for Roxas's and Mom's conditions.

Roxas survived thankfully, but the paramedics told us Mom was already dead before they arrived.

After Mom died, Dad lost it. He began drinking to drown his sorrow, and the alcohol problem he thought had gone away returned. He blamed Roxas and I for the accident and would do anything possible to hurt us.

Over the years, we had gotten pretty good at covering up our bruises and other signs of abuse. As far as our closest friends know, we just verbally fight with him a lot, there's no beating, belt lashing, bottle hurdling, or disowning that's completely forgotten the next morning because a the hangover washed it all away.

As we approached our shabby north Portland home, there was a sigh of relief from Roxas when he saw that Dad's car wasn't in the driveway. So he was still out drinking, which meant we could have an evening in peace for once.

"Someday, we should just ditch this place for good," Roxas muttered more to himself than me.

I couldn't help but agree more.

* * *

So what do you guys think? I need constructive critisim amd reivews are greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two: Down at Lucy's**_

(Roxas's POV)

Anyone who lives in any area has their own 'hangout.', a.k.a., the usual spot. If it's café or pub, the people there would come to know your name, who your friends are, and what you'd usually get there.

That's how Lucy's is. If you compare it to Starbucks or Coffee People or one of those big commercial companies, it's a tiny insignificant speck. But that's how most of the local coffee shops are here. The small, social atmosphere makes it easy to meet new people, and I like it like that. It makes it easier to make friends.

I'll admit it. I'm socially awkward.

Well, compared to Sora at least. I may be better at making friends than some people, but I still more of the quiet wallflower type. Kind of. I do something stupid every now and then.

Like the time I climbed on top of the middle school building.

Or when I wrote all over the bathroom walls. (Mind you, I was forced to wash those same walls as punishment for something else I was caught for. Oh, sweet irony.)

Or that one time when Axel and I set off the fire alarm.

Ah, good times, good times.

So anyway, it was a pretty normal day at Lucy's. The usual people came and went, along with a few new faces that had just discovered the tiny brick coffee shop on Anthony Boulevard sandwiched between a bakery and an antique store. Nothing really special had happened so far.

The little silver bell rang, announcing the opening of the door. A small group of people entered, two girls and one guy. I recognized the guy as Shiro Takeda, a kid at my school who was on the lacrosse team. The other two girls I've seen at school, but I've never actually met them, so they were a mystery to me.

"Hey Roxas."

"Heya Shiro," I responded. "What do you want today?"

"I'll take a normal cup of coffee, none of that special stuff, you know?"

"Sure." I looked at the two girls, "Anything for you two?"

The first girl, I guessed that she was part Filipino or something judging by her mocha-colored skin, answered, "I'll have an ice mocha please."

I punched in the price in the cash register. "And you?"

"Um…" she said, looking at the menu overhead, "I'll just have what Shiro got."

They paid and sat down in a little booth near the window. There weren't a lot of people here yet, so it was naturally pretty quiet.

As I was making the drinks I started up a conversation.

"So, how has your guys's summers been?"

"Neh."

"Ashe and I went camping at Mt. Hood last weekend," Shiro replied gesturing to the mocha-skinned girl, Ashe.

"How was it?"

Ashe laughed quietly as Shiro flushed slightly. "For the most part it was nice. Except for that rainstorm on the third day."

"You have to admit that it was funny though when you slipped and fell down the slope," Ashe teased, poking him in the arm. "At least you didn't get sun burnt like Ahna."

"Sorry I fell asleep in the sun on the boat up at camp," she answered with mock offence. "At least I'll be tan when it's gone."

Ashe rolled her eyes laughingly. "Of course, after you get skin cancer from practically living up there all summer."

Ahna shrugged. "Neh, of course."

"Two coffees and a ice mocha," I announced placing the drinks on the table.

"So what about you, Roxas?" asked Shiro. "What've you been up to all summer?"

Avoiding my dad at all costs.

"Nothing really. Just working."

I went back behind the counter and busied myself with this and that. You know, wiping of counters and tables, cleaning dishes, all that doo-dad stuff.

When Shiro, Ashe, and Ahna were about to leave, Shiro came up to me and handed me a piece of paper.

"Here's my cell number. We're going wakeboarding the day after tomorrow with some friends. If you want to come, just give me a call," he explained and followed out after his friends.

---

A few hours later, my shift was over. I headed outside and hopped on to my skateboard. The first place I went to was the Waterfront. Someone was always there.

Portland was built on both sides of the river. On the west side was the Waterfront, which is exactly as it says it is. A pathway runs along the river along with trees and grass. There's also the Salmon Springs fountain that's quite refreshing to run through on a hot day. There's always little kids playing around it during the summer.

Since it was around lunchtime, I bought a hot dog from a street vender. I ate it as I skated around.

Eventually I ran into Olette. She was on a shopping trip with one of her girl friends who didn't stick around for long. We hung out on Sixth Avenue for a good while then headed back over to the Waterfront.

Damn, it was hot.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Olette trying to fan herself with her hand. Then I spotted the Salmon Springs. I began to formulate a plan in my head.

As we casually walked by, I suddenly picked Olette up by the waist.

"Roxas what-"

She noticed the fountain and it dawned on her.

"Oh, no, no, no! Roxas don't you dare!" she protested.

Too late.

A very wet Olette gave me the 'I-think-I'd-like-to-kill-you-now' look. Crap, I'm so screwed now.

"Roxas…" she said threateningly.

Backing up, I raised my hands in defense. "Now see here, Olette- you looked, uh, like you needed to cool down. Yeah. Don't you feel better?"

Probably one of the scariest things I've ever seen is an angry girl, especially when they're PMS-ing. I hoped Olette wasn't though, because like I said, it was scary.

"Maybe I'll feel better if I got back at you," she replied to my lame excuse, grabbing my wrist and pulling me into the gushing jets of water of the fountain.

Holy fucking hell it was cold!

"HOLY FUCKING HELL IT'S COLD!" I yelled in surprise.

Olette laughed evilly at me. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the water's way. She yelped in shock at the cold rush.

I crossed my arms in satisfaction, even as the water flattened my hair to my head. Then something caught my eye.

Olette's dark brown hair, well, now black hair, was plastered to her scalp and face. Her orange and yellow clothes also clung to her body, revealing the shape and curves of her body. I found myself transfixed to them.

"Roxas?"

Why was my face suddenly so warm?

"Hellooo, Roxas?"

Olette's hand was waving in front of my face.

"Huh?"

She giggled. How sweet it sounded… Wait what!

"You completely zoned out there for a second," she said.

"Oh," I replied, still trying to sort out my thoughts, "Sorry."

We sat down on the concrete around the fountain and waited for the sun to dry us. Since it was so hot out, it shouldn't have taken long. In the meantime, while Olette talked, I closed my eyes and listened to her voice. How come I've never noticed her like I did today?

...Fuck.

She's one of my closest friends, I can't be thinking of her like that. It would be like having the hots for my sister!

…

Oh God. Stop thinking like that Roxas!

Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

I. Need. To. Get. A. Life.

---

When we were finally dry, we spilt up. Olette needed to meet her cousin Leon at the airport, and I just wanted to wander.

"See ya, Roxas," she waved and jogged off.

I wandered until late that night. When I finally came upon my house, I saw the lights on and Dad's car in the driveway.

"Fuck," I murmured.

If I was lucky, he would've passed out by now. But my luck seems to be quite anecdotal as of late. As it turns out, that night Dad tried to hit the big time with a lottery ticket, and he didn't win. Again.

He was already cursing and shouting when I walked in through the front door. When he saw me he directed his anger at me.

"Whereya've been, boy?" he yelled, his words slurred together in drunken rage.

"Out," I replied, trying to figure out a quick escape to my room before Dad will have had enough of my 'attitude' and hit me. Deciding just to wing it, I walked past him; the smell of alcohol was strong; and sprinted up the stairs, two at a time.

In my sanctuary, my room, I glanced at the clock. It was only 9:00 P.M. I took out the paper Shiro had given me earlier with his cell phone number on it. For several minutes I stared at it debating whether or not if I wanted to go. Finally making up my mind, I fished out the cordless phone I had left in my room earlier from my pile of crap, a.k.a. clothes left on the floor and other stuff.

I dialed the number and waited for someone to pick up the other end. I was greeted two rings later by a distinct "hello?".

"Hi, Shiro?" I asked.

"Yeah. Who's this?"

"Roxas."

"Oh, hey Roxas," he said. "What's up?"

"Nothing," I replied. "I just wanted to let you know I can go wakeboarding with you guys tomorrow."

"Awesome," he said. "Yeah, well, Ashe's brother is picking us up at Starkies at 10:00 tomorrow morning after breakfast. Make sure you're there."

"Okay," I responded. "See you tomorrow."

"You too."

I hung up and plopped down on my bed and stared at the ceiling for a good ten minutes. Then there was a knock on the door.

"Roxas?" I heard Sora's voice ask.

"Come in," I replied.

My brother opened the door and entered. "Can I use the phone?"

"Yeah," I said tossing it to him.

He caught it and thanked me and then he left, closing the door behind him.

Once again I contented myself with staring at the ceiling, except I think I wasn't exactly looking at the ceiling anymore. I kept seeing a pair of jewel green eyes and a warm smiling face.

"Fuck, I'm so screwed," I mumbled and squished my face into my pillow and fell asleep.

* * *

Phew! I think I broke my record for fastest chapter written. Five days of actually writing and then a bunch of other days I didn't even touch this document. Yay.

Please review. Thank you.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three: Sunshine Superman**_

(Roxas's POV)

I was up early that morning searching for my swim shorts and a towel. Eventually I managed to find them within the deep dark depths or my closet. It's safe to say I need to clean out my room, badly.

A quick icy cold shower and dressing later I was out the door and on the bus to Downtown. The sidewalks were nearly empty, except for a save few morning commute people like myself. There was plenty of traffic though with businessmen and women inching along to their respective building and agency.

Though I normally didn't hang out in Northeast as much as Northwest or Southeast, Starkies was fairly nearby. I finally came upon Starkies, another one of those small, local coffee shops, though Starkies was legendary for its famously delicious waffles. I heard somewhere that the original owner and founder of the place named it after his favorite character in the popular 70's crime fighting show, but he misspelled the name, and before he could correct it to Starsky's, Starkies was stuck for good.

Inside, the place was fairly large, larger than Lucy's by all means, but it was still somewhat small. It wasn't hard to find Shiro and the others. They sat in a booth in the corner, one of those big ones, you know? So far there was only four people there: Shiro, Ashe, Ahna, and Yuffie Kirasagi, a girl in the year above me, and a self proclaimed ninja. She often hangs out with Leon, Cloud, and Aerith, all of which are incoming seniors. Riku could've been a senior, but his birthday was after the cut-off date, so he's stuck being on of the oldest juniors.

"Roxas!" they waved to me to come join them.

"Am I late?" I asked as I sat down on the end next to Yuffie.

"Nope," Yuffie replied.

"We're still waiting for Connor and Seth," Ahna finished for her. "They should be here soon, though."

A waitress came by and took our orders- nearly everyone got waffles. A few minutes later a tan boy walked inside. Everything about him, form the way he stood to how he dressed screamed athlete, but like jock athlete, but the kind of athlete who was good, but not a varsity player. He walked over to our booth and laid a hand on Ahna's shoulder.

"Oh, hey Connor," she greeted him as he slid down next to her. "Thought you were going to ditch us."

"That wouldn't be very nice if I ditched you after not seeing you for so long, Ahna," he said and lightly kissed hero n the cheek. "Did you get sunburned again?" She laughed sheepishly and nodded slightly.

"How was Montreal?" Ashe asked.

Connor waved his hand nonchalantly. "Oh, same old, same old. Not really any different than here, except at least there's some sun here."

Suddenly Yuffie remembered I was here and introduced us to eachother.

"Connor, this is Roxas Inaya. And Roxas, this is Connor Matthews."

Just then the waitress came by with our orders. She asked Connor if he wanted anything, but he politely refused. He ended up eating some of Ahna's instead.

Finally, the man we've all been waiting for, Ashe's brother, Seth, came to pick us up and drive us to Hagg Lake, where we were going to go boating. We all managed to cram into his Suburban. It took about an hour to get there, then another ten minutes to get the boat ready and to cast off.

At first we just sped around, then the tubes were broken out. There were two of them to attach to the boat, so Ahna and Ashe went first. Seth went fast and did all sorts of sharp twists and turns, until eventually Ashe was thrown off. We all went at least once, some as many as four times. Even Seth went once, while Ahna drove

After a lunch of sandwiches provided by Seth, we started wakeboarding. It was fun and it lasted a long time. But soon we stopped the boat and bobbed on the water. Immediately Connor and Shiro snuck up on Yuffie and threw her in.

"HEY!" she shouted at them, while we all laughed.

Suddenly Ahna and Ashe shoved me in after Yuffie. I playfully splashed them in retaliation. While Ahna was distracted Connor lifted her up from around the waist. Despite her protests, he tossed her in, but Ahna grabbed his arms and dragged him down with her.

"You're coming down with me!" she laughed.

In the meantime, Shiro was trying to throw Ashe in, when Seth suddenly picked them both up like they were nothing and tossed them in. He dove in shortly after us.

I have to admit. I had a great time with them. They were the kind of crowd that could do anything at any given moment, like when Ahna, Ashe, and Yuffie tried to drive off with the boat and leave us behind. Don't worry, we boarded before they managed to successfully commandeer the boat.

On the ride home, most of us slept. Yuffie, who was riding shotgun, was chatting with Seth about whatever. Ashe, Shiro and I were in the middle row. Ashe was resting her head on Shiro, who was leaning against the window. In the back seat, Connor and Ahna were sleeping, with each other's heads resting on each other's. Eventually, I felt asleep against the window.

Today was fun. I really enjoyed myself. After we got back to Portland, I got everyone's cell phone numbers, which I wrote on a piece of paper that had pretty much everyone's numbers I knew, which made it quite extensive. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

I met up with Sora at our favorite Thai restaurant, Pad Thai Kitchen. A satisfying dinner later, we went home. Dad was gone, which was good, because then we could watch some TV. We were up past twelve watching a CSI marathon- The good CSI, not Miami or New York, the good old original Las Vegas one, with Jorja Fox, the love of my life.

The _he_ came home. Immediately, Sora and I made to rush upstairs. But Dad wanted another beer, and he wanted it now. But his problem was that he was already so drunk that he could barely stand.

"Boy!" he barked at me, "Gemme anuther beer."

Sora and I looked at each other which boy was he talking to? We could've asked him, but the half-empty bottle smashing on the wall next to me made me rush into the kitchen and grab the first six-pack of Budweiser I could find in the fridge.

When I went back into the living room to give him his beer, he snatched the cans from me and threw one at me like a fastball. I blocked it with my arms, but it still hurt.

"GOD DAMNIT BOY!" he snarled. "Can you do anything right? I wanted the bottles, but you brought me the cans! Are you fucking retarded?"

"You didn't say what you wanted, sir," I said more calmly than I felt. In truth, I was starting to panic. Today had been so good so far; I didn't want Dad to ruin it.

Not staying to listen to his response, I went back into the kitchen and grabbed some beer bottles. I tossed them unceremoniously on the couch next to Dad and started upstairs. Suddenly something hard shattered on my back, drenching the back of my shirt, and bits of glass embedded themselves into my skin.

I met Sora at the top of the stairs. He gave me a sympathetic look, which I replied to with a weak smile.

"It's okay," I told him. "It's just a bottle."

Sora still shook his head, the brown locks swaying in the motion. "Bastard," he muttered, sending a hateful glare down the stairs even though he knew Dad couldn't see him.

"I'm going to shower and then go to bed," I said, stretching my arms.

"Relaxing on a boat all day sure is tiring, huh?" he replied with a playful shove.

"You bet."

I then went into the bathroom and started up the shower. I peeled off my now beer soaked shirt and the rest of my clothing. With some difficulty, I picked out the shards of glass that got stuck in my skin and then stepped under the running water. I hissed slightly at the hot temperature and turned it down a bit.

'_Why does he hate me so much?'_

I snorted as I shampooed my hair. I knew damn well why. It's because of the accident. We never talked about it. Not since the day we came home from the hospital with Sora and me in tears and Dad so indifferent that it seemed all the worse. He drank a lot that night. It was the first time that I had ever seen him drink anything alcoholic, and it was by far not the last. It wasn't until after the funeral, did he turn violent.

I remember the first time he looked on me with those angry eyes, his face aged so much within a few days that he couldn't have recognizable as the loving, if rough around the edges father who'd give his sons piggyback rides and wrestle with them. He was no longer the man who'd envelop me in a massive bear hug whenever he came home from work, instead, he'd sooner strangle me to death than show any signs of affection towards Sora or me.

But I still always asked myself why. Why would he hate me so much? It wasn't as if I had caused the collision. I wasn't me driving. It wasn't Mom's fault. It wasn't Sora's either. It was no one's fault really. Maybe that's why he hated us, so that he could have something to blame, an excuse for his actions, to release his emotions. The alcohol, the drugs, and the hookers he occasionally brought home… it was all a way for him to try to forget his pain. The only thing preventing him from forgetting completely was what was left of his family, Sora and me.

After the shower, and the difficult bandaging of the cuts on my back, I draped my beer soaked shirt over the back of my desk chair and belly flopped on to my bed, the angst thoughts still swirling in my head. I buried my face in the pillow and took a deep breath. I focused instead on the good things of the day: the day at the lake, dinner with Sora at Pad Thai, and watching CSI.

With those playing over in my brain, my eyes drooped and the fast pace of my thoughts began to slow down, eventually slipping into sub consciousness as I fell asleep.

* * *

Got a little emo there at the end… hey at least I didn't make him cut himself or something like that. ;

In case you didn't notice, there's going to be a lot of OCs in this, but only a couple are going to play a big role. And I guess I should have you note that Ashe and Shiro are together and Ahna and Connor are together too. All of which are mine except for Shiro, whom I created, but belongs to **_Auroramoon101_**

And I'm not sure if I've already said this previously, but most of the characters are going to go through multiple crushes and relationships before I'm done with this fic. I want to make it as realistic as possible, so there's going to be a fair few crack pairings for a while like Kairi and Tidus and such.

And looking back on the previous chapters I noticed that I said that Sora and Roxas were 15, they're actually 16 since their going to be juniors. I'll get around to fixing it someday…


	4. Chapter 4

Inspiration! I just watched Dazed and Confused for the umpteenth time and now I have multiple Aerosmith songs stuck in my head ; If you've seen Dazed and Confused, this chapter makes me think of the opening song when everyone is going to school. I always picture that yellow car driving up when I hear "Sweet Emotion"…

(sings) I LOVE THE 70's!

I need to get Vh1 so I can watch that again…it's the best show ever.

_**Chapter Four: Back To School**_

(Sora's POV)

It was September 5th, the first day of school. The first day since summer began that I had to get up when it was still relatively dark: the ungodly hour of 6 a.m.

If I had any choice, I probably would've skipped, but Roxas convinced me since it was the first day.

And the fact he had robbed me of all my blankets, and was flogging me with a wet towel. Talk about an abusive brother!

But we had to catch a bus to Southeast, which would take the better part of a half hour, and then we had to walk up the hill on which our school sat like some hen on a giant egg. A giant concrete egg covered in asphalt, buildings, and druggies.

The giant hill aside, Eastwood High was in a pretty convenient location. For a brief history lesson, before it was built, it was a cemetery, but then the moved it, and the school was built. It is said that a couple graves are still underneath the school's foundation, forgotten, when they moved the graveyard. Naturally, this sprung a crow's nest of rumors and ghost stories, the most popular of which, is the girl in the polka dot dress in the library, which i will not go into details with.

The red brick building of EHS came into view; it's sixteen concrete steps hidden under a wide range of various pairs of Converse, Vans, Nikes, Adidas, boot, flats, and flip-flops. Seniors were greeting friends, and enjoying being at the top at long last. Freshmen, looked lost and terrified as they tried to find people they knew for support. Sophomores and juniors milled about saying hi to friends in all social groups and grades.

I became aware that Roxas had left my side, with a pat on the shoulder. "See you later," he said, before pushing his way through a group of hopeless looking freshmen to a group of four people dressed in dark clothing.

These are the only members of a former gang that Roxas was in that still went to school. Larxene Brown, a relatively pretty girl who could be very violent at times, Demyx Sinatro, he came from a troubled family, like me and Roxas, but he hid it under a mask of foolishness, and was quite a good guitar player, Zexion Dimichi, a genius if there ever was one, and the most quiet person I had ever met. He was the only senior in the group. Then there was Axel O'Leary, Roxas' best friend and the one who dragged him into the gang in the first place. He was a bit of a bad boy, but I guess he was cool. Normally I didn't hang out with those friends of Roxas.

"Hey Sora!" a pretty redhead greeted me with a smile. Her boyfriend, a tall blonde, nodded at me as they passed by to a group of jocks, most of the soccer team, I noticed.

That was Kairi Anan and her boyfriend Tidus Niccals. Kairi had been one of my best friends when I was a kid along with Riku, but as we grew older, and went to separate middle schools, we drifted apart. It was depressing, but that's life. She's also a cheerleader, and I bet next year, when she's a senior, she'll be the head cheerleader, unless Namine Asya beats her to it.

Speaking of which…

I looked around for the said blonde, but I couldn't find her in the crowd. Oh, well, I'll just have to wait until lunch.

Inside the building I pushed and shoved my way to my locker. Don't you hate it when you're stuck walking behind a group of people who are talking up the whole hallway and walking really slow? And then they stop to talk to even more of their friends? It's like driving on the freeway during rush hour after a big accident.

Riku jumped in next to me on my way to my locker. "What's up?" he asked.

"Nothing much," I replied rather dully. "You'd think these damn people would learn to stop blocking the damn hallway though."

At that moment I chose to flat tire one of the girls walking in front of me. She turned back to look at me with a "who-do-you-think-you-are?" look. I merely replied with a shrug. She flipped her hair over and returned to chatting with her girlfriends. Damn fucking cheerleader.

And then there were those freshmen.

When I was a freshie, I didn't get why the upperclassmen didn't like us. In my sophomore year I learned why. You see, there seem to be three types of freshmen: the cool kind, the meek and shy kind, and the obnoxious, immature, bratty kind. The cool and shy kind weren't too bad, except the shy ones would sometimes even run away from you if came to ask them for something. But the obnoxious ones… they acted like they're so cool because they're finally in high school, but they didn't realize that they're the bottom of the food chain now. The ones who played football were particularly bad as far as this goes. Earth to freshmen football players: the team is non-cut, not all of you deserve that jersey! Of, course I don't really like football players in general anyways.

Sophomores weren't as cool anymore. I realize now that one would get a major ego boost when you're a sophomore and those were the ones who picked on the freshmen the most. Then again, I never liked the people the year below me…

The first bell rang, causing me to jump slightly as I had been standing right underneath it. I grabbed my books for my first two classes, said good-bye to Riku, and climbed up the stairs to the English wing on the second floor.

Inside the classroom, Mr. Gofert, Mr. "Goofy", as we called him, was reclined in his desk chair, sleeping. He was a tall, lanky man in his forties, very nice, but also very clumsy, hence the nickname. His classes, like most of the English classes in the school, were said to be fun and the most entertaining of the day. Mr. Goofy was also infamous for wearing a hat with long earflaps that made him look like he had dog-ears. It was just part of his image.

As for my peers, I saw Wakka sticking out with his bright orange hair- what a ginger-, Dark Niwa, and Namine among many other familiar faces.

The final bell rang, signaling the start of class. We all sat down in our assigned seats (Mr. Goofy had posted a seating chart up) and "listened" to the announcements. In reality, though, most of us were mourning the sleep robbed of us, and craving breakfast in my case. In my rush this morning I had forgotten to eat something.

I took the time to look and see who I was sitting by. To my left, I saw Dark, and just in front of him and diagonal to me sat Namine. Wakka was somewhere on the other side of the room.

With announcement s over, Mr. Goofy stood up and introduced himself to the class. He then handed out a sheet of paper to each of us, it looked like some sort of survey you'd find in chain emails.

**Name? **_Sora Inaya_

**Birthday? **_January 15_

**Hobbies: **_Eating, Sleeping_

**Favorite Food and Drink? **_Burgers, Hot Chocolate_

**Favorite Animal? **_Coyote (Isn't it spelled coolly?)_

**Super Power? **_Super strength and flight_

**Favorite Type of Music? **_Not country_

**Favorite Book? **_don't read much_

**Favorite Movie? **_Zoolander_

**The Ideal Breakfast? **_Waffles, eggs, hash browns, French toast, bacon, and hot chocoalte_

**Oldest, Middle, Youngest, or Only Child? **_I'm a twin!_

It was fairly brief, and I answered pretty pathetically, but who cares?

Mr. Goofy collected the papers and started explaining what we were going to cover this year, and yada, yada, yada…

He finally turned us loose and let us talk for the rest of the period. Dark turned to me and smirked. He always smirks. It's not that he's a jerk or anything, he can be pretty full of himself at times, but he's pretty cool otherwise.

"What's new with you Inaya?" he asked, kicking his feet up on the desk.

"Life," I replied, putting my head down on the desk. "So sleepy," -my stomach growled loudly- "So hungry."

Namine turned around in her seat. "You should've ate breakfast this morning, Sora," she reprimanded playfully. I stuck my tongue out at her in response.

Oh, God, I acted like a total idiot right then. Why did I do that? Couldn't I have done something more mature?

Oh, well.

Namine then turned to Dark. "Isn't your brother starting today too?"

"Oh, yeah," I said. "Little Daisuke's finally a freshmen!"

"Unfortunately, yes. Now everyone is going to know he's my brother," Dark said rather mournfully. "God, I've been dreading this day for years."

I gave Dark a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "No you're not," I said bluntly. "You know the girls are going t o like him because he's the cute one, so you're going to use him to get girls."

"Was that a subtle hit my brother?"

I smirked. "Maybe."

We had a mini staring contest before Namine suddenly started laughing, which made Dark and I start to laugh. Damn you laughter for being contagious! But I like Namine's laugh… she has a good one.

At long last the bell rang. I made a beeline for the cafeteria where they were serving food. You hear about cafeteria food being really gross and all, but it's actually quite good. During break, they have breakfast-y foods like hash browns and breakfast sandwiches, and cinnamon rolls on occasion, but they also have cookies. And I wanted my cookie.

Of course, you have to get there quickly since everybody wants a cookie.

Unfortunately for me, my classroom for English happens to be one of the farthest from the cafeteria and by the time I got there, the cookies were all gone. Woe is me.

Time for plan B. I mingled into the crowd in search of someone I knew relatively well. The first person I chanced upon was Ahna, who just so happened to be carrying a paper plate with a chocolate chip cookie on it.

"Oh, Ahna, my love," I said sidling up beside her. "You wouldn't mind sharing some of that delicious cookie with me, will you?"

She pretended to look thoughtful about it before amicably replying, "And what do I hope to get out of all of this?"

"My eternal love and gratitude?"

Once again she had a mockingly thoughtful look upon her face before shrugging and breaking off a piece and giving it to me. "You owe me your soul now," she joked smiling broadly. She then ambled off, probably to find her boyfriend or whoever.

And so, munching on my delectable cookie, I wandered off towards where my next class was to take place, which happened to be US History with Mr. Sprinkle. I won't be going into too much detail about the class, but I will tell you that generally the most exciting thing about history, besides when our class talks about current events, is when Mr. Sprinkle throws the chalkboard eraser at people because either they're annoying him, or when they fell asleep.

I have this class with Roxas, Riku, Ahna, and Kairi. Sadly, I don't sit next to any of them, but I figure that we can pass notes well enough to communicate during class.

After history is lunch. Being the lazy person I am, I tend to mooch off other people, namely Riku and Roxas. But half of the time, Roxas is off with Hayner, Pence and Olette, or with Axel, Larxene, Zexion, and Demyx, so he's not as reliable as Riku. Don't worry; I'll pay Riku back someday after my debt has surpassed more than I'll ever make in a year with my current job.

Ha ha, as if.

During this time, if I were the ideal me, I would try to talk to Namine, but alas, she always sits at the table full of football players and cheerleaders, not my kind of people. And so I sit in the courtyard with Riku, wallowing in my own self-pity and eating his food.

Third Period is some math class, that i can't even remember what its called. In layman terms, my worst class of all time. Roxas, being the little smarty-pants he is, is in some Calculus class for the smart people. Well, he can go get raped for all I care. At least I don't have a creep for my teacher.

Anyway, I share this oh, so enlightening class with Hayner, Kairi, Yuna (which is good, because then she can do my work for me, hopefully), and Rikku, as in the girl one. Most of the time I either sleep or pass notes with Hayner in this class.

I wish they'd give us naptimes in school, like when we were in kindergarten. Did you know that teenagers need 8 – 10 hours of sleep to be healthy? Well, most don't get that much at night because of school and work, so the school should make up for that by either starting school later, or giving us a period where we could just sleep.

I actually had one teacher back in my freshmen year for Health who sometimes let us sleep the entire period. It was marvelous. Alas, those days are gone…

Fourth period, my last class for the day, is Aquatic Science with Mr. Duck. Tomorrow I'll have periods 5, 6, and 7.

Anyway, about Mr. Duck. What can I say about him? Well for starters, he's a really short man; almost everyone is taller than him, with a fine head full of snow-white hair. It's not that he's that old…well he is in his mid-fifties, but the fact that 1) he always had really light colored hair and 2) teaching for as long as he had comes with a guarantee of more than a few grey hairs. He's one of my favorite teachers. I haven't had him for any classes, yet, but I remember first meeting him at the freshmen lock-in two years ago.

We bicker a lot, he has a bit of a temper, you see, but I know he doesn't mean it half of the time. Especially when I just call him by his first name -Donald- or when I make variations of that like "Donnie Darko", or when I say his middle name, Fauntleroy.

Not much of my good friends are in this class sadly besides Riku. Shiro Takeda's girlfriend, Ashe is in this class, too, but I don't really know her that well.

Pretty much like all of my classes today, nothing interesting happened. I sit next to one of the aquariums, so I spent my time tapping on the glass, trying to get the fish's attention until Mr. Duck yelled at me for disturbing the fish.

At long last, the bell rang at 2:30, freeing me from all scholastic duties. Scholastic… I like that word. God bless the dictionary.

"Sora! Hey, Sora!" I heard someone call to me outside on the steps.

It turned out to be Roxas.

"Hey, Roxie," I sauntered over to him. He was with Hayner and Pence. Olette was nowhere to be seen.

He frowned at the nickname. He hated being called that, I knew that, and he knew that I knew that. That's what made it funny.

"Stop calling me that," he said. "Anyway, we're going to Mojo's as soon as Olette gets here. Wanna come?"

Mojo's was a nearby coffee shop a few blocks up the street. It was a pretty snazzy place to hang out at. Although you couldn't smoke inside, outside was a covered patio with tables and chairs, and a little wooden wall thing so that the wind and rain weren't too much of a problem.

I didn't really have any plans tonight…"Sure, why not?"

When Olette finally came back, we set off. Upon arrival, we stepped inside and ordered our drinks, and a giant croissant to share. Hayner demanded we sit outside so he could smoke. The weather was nice, so no one really minded.

Outside, Hayner pulled out a pack of Marlboro's and put one cigarette in his mouth. He then offered the pack to us. Everyone except for Pence said no. Most people wouldn't expect Pence, the chubby, slightly nerdy kid, to be a smoker, but, in fact, he was believe it or not. Olette sometimes smoked, but in the entire time I've known her, I've only seen her light up a couple of times. Roxas, like Olette, only smoked cigarettes on occasion, usually when he was stressed out or nervous.

Me? I've only smoked once. I'm afraid of addiction, of being dependent on something, even if it is as petty as a cigarette. Besides, I don't like how they taste.

Hayner took a long drag from his cig. "Man that feels good," he sighed as he let out a puff of smoke. "I was dying all day."

"Maybe you should cut back a bit then," Olette said, sipping her coffee.

He blatantly ignored her, and instead attempted to blow smoke at her. I emphasize attempted. The wind blew it al right back at him.

"So…" Roxas said, changing the subject, "I'm quitting at Lucy's."

That was unexpected.

"Why?" asked Olette. "I thought you liked it there."

"I do," he said, shrugging. "But it's on the Westside. I want a job that's a little closer to here and with more manageable hours for the school year."

Hayner snorted. "You're such a geek, Roxie-poo."

"Go die, Haynkie-chif."

"With pleasure," Hayner sneered.

"Okay, break it up you two!" Olette interrupted. She checked the time on her cell phone. "Shit, I got to go. Pence, can you give me a ride?"

Pence shrugged and took one last drag on his cig before tossing it on the ground and grinding it under his foot. "Sure, let's go."

Olette turned to us. "See ya later."

We waved good-bye and soon they left. Hayner, Roxas, and I sat around Mojo's for a little while longer, drinking our coffee and (in Hayner's case) smoking. Later we hit the town. We started on Burnside, and worked our way to Hawthorne and then Belmont, where we caught the bus across the river to downtown and met up with various people throughout the night. Somewhere around 1 A.M. we trampled into Hayner's house. We made milkshakes and eggs; then Roxas and I fell asleep on the couches in the living room while Hayner retired to his room.

* * *

That was long. 

Thank you readers and reviewers for the fantastical time you wasted on my humble story.

I guess I should point out that while the story takes place in Portland, a lot of places are either fictional, or tweaked a bit for the purpose of the story. Yeah….

I got kind of lazy describing some of Sora's classes. And, yes, Dark from DN Angel made a guest appearance. Also, ignore that almost everyone has Japanese names even though they live in America.


End file.
